Not A Hero: Super Snazzy Edition review

Amazing

In the year 2048 the world is on the brink of total alien destruction. In trying to stop this, BunnyLord, a giant purple bunny, travels back in time with the intention of stopping it by running for Mayor. Weird I know, but instead of speeches and debates BunnyLord has decided to take his approach slightly differently by ridding the entire city of crime in the only way he knows, violently. Not A Hero: Super Snazzy Edition takes you through BunnyLords electoral campaign for Mayor as he wins the hearts and votes of the city in the most explosive and gun-toting way possible.

Not a Hero: Super Snazzy Edition is the console release of Roll7’s frantic yet funny pixel side scrolling shooter and between them and Team 17 they have added just that little extra something. Taking the role of BunnyLords campaign manager Steve, imagine the Danny Dyer of pixel games, you blast and slide your way through various levels to your main aim. This could be simply kill everyone or in some cases switching on a giant billboard or picking up some ghetto blasters. Whichever one you get though they are all as mad as the giant purple anthropomorphic rabbit you work for. Along with the main goal there are also 3 side missions to complete and even though they are not required to complete the level the better you do the more votes BunnyLord gets in his race for Mayor. As a result of this more Henchman campaign staff members join your efforts allowing you to select different characters and traits for different missions.

Each of the 9 unlockable characters brings its own style and humour to the game. Steve for instance or Danny D as we call him here, slides through the level blasting everything in sight with his pistol, Mike has huge firepower but can only fire twice and Jesus has huge amounts of ammo but accuracy is poor. This brings a decision to the game about what character you want to play and as each one has its pro’s and cons you are going to want to try each one to find your favourite. Personally you should try each one if not to just hear their witty banter in the selection screen.

The controls are what you expect from this sort of side scrolling game with a nice and simple feel to them. Moving left and right with the thumbstick moves your characters left and right along the corridors. Pushing up and down allows your character to climb up and down stairs and with the main buttons mapped to fire, special weapons, reload and slide you soon find yourself leaping off ledges, smashing through windows and gunning down everyone in sight before bundling into the back of the BunnyLords black transit van shouting “go, go, go”. If you are still unsure though the excellent tutorial will take you through the first couple of levels to ease you in, as long as you think running around like a maniac frantically killing everything in sight is a good way to start.

As I mentioned earlier the side scrolling 2D pixel isn’t for everyone but I have to say the graphics look amazing. The fact that you have a wide-screen view of the level means you can plan your next move carefully ensuring maximum carnage and even though the characters are small on the screen they still come across larger than life and with maximum impact. Every explosion, gunshot and execution just makes you come back for more and personally I found it hard to put the game down because of this.

The main game itself features 28 levels of high octane gun shooting madness but don’t be fooled by its simplicity. The game really provides a challenge that will leave you frustrated at times due to the lack of save points on a mission (there is a couple but they are far and few between). However, the fact that you can replay the missions with any of your unlockable characters really does give the game a sense of replayability. It doesn’t end there though and Not A Hero: Super Snazzy Edition also comes with 3 new missions under the title of “ME, MYSELF & BUNNYLORD”. Here you can play as the machine gun carrying BunnyLord himself, as you finally get to take matters into your own hands. Add to this huge amounts of hidden secrets within the game, and you wont want to put this down for months.

Not A Hero: Super Snazzy Edition brings fast gun blazing action and coarse humour to a side scrolling shooter and personally I think it works brilliantly. If you are looking for T and cake with your nan this isn’t for you, but if you are looking for adrenalin fueled carnage packed full of SWAT teams, gun-toting elderly, helicopter gunships, pandas, pugs and suicidal samurai’s at a really great price then grab it by both ears don’t forget to say hi to Steve (Danny D) for us. This is one game that will stay on my console for a long time.

Thanks to Xbox and Team 17 for supporting TiX

Good

Frantic, yet enjoyable action

Simplistic Control Scheme

Easy but addictive gameplay

Bad

Lack of save points can sometimes leave you frustrated

Summary

Not A Hero: Super Snazzy Edition is one of the most crazy, fast paced side scrolling shooters I have ever played. Add to this mix a giant purple time travelling BunnyLord and a gun weilding cockney called Steve and are in for the maddest time of your lives. Once this rabbit has it's teeth in you, you wont want to put this game down.